The Literature Times: What inspired you to write “Teacher-First Management”?
Joel M. Abel:
I started out in the education industry without really intending to, and after spending time with students and other teachers I was always impressed with those teachers that were clearly passionate about their craft. As much as I tried, I never found the passion to emulate them, but I did find facilitating their success extremely fulfilling. I pursued that career and became very passionate about my mission to provide great working environments for teachers. To this day I have the greatest admiration and respect for tireless and dedicated educators.
In 2019 I found myself in a management role that was very restricted, and I couldn’t deliver for my teachers in the way that I wanted to. I used that time to start an outline of all the ways that I wished I could run the school, all the ways I knew that the teachers could be managed correctly. When Covid came, and the lockdowns happened, I used the extra free time to fill the outline in and make it a real guide.
The Literature Times: Can you share a specific experience from your career that influenced your views on managing teachers?
Joel M. Abel:
Working for Disney was really the beginning of my journey in management. I was uniquely lucky to be part of an organization that really encouraged and supported professional development in leadership. It showed me the possibilities of skill development and professional operations. I had real role models that coached me to be on a different level.
I then had the opportunity to put those lessons into practice working as a regional manager for a franchise of a large language training company. Going in, I could see clearly how organization, structure, and teamwork could create a great organization, and I was lucky enough to have the backing of those above and around me. I think the most profound time was when we started delivering our group on-boarding program and completed the first couple of sessions. We saw the training, the support, and the direction start to show up in our regular class observations. The whole system was working together in unison, and this the affirmation that I needed to know that I was on the right track.
In every management position I’ve been in, there’s been one event that always confirms my worldview. When I’ve entered an organization in the past, the reaction to class observations is always exasperation or anxiety. I know I’ve done well when that flips, and the teachers start coming to request class observations themselves. That means that they’ve changed their view of management. From one of suspicion – to one of partnership. That’s what Teacher-First Management is meant to achieve.
The Literature Times: What are some common misconceptions about the transition from teaching to management that you aim to address in your book?
Joel M. Abel:
The first and foremost misconception that I hope to eliminate wherever I can is: if someone is a good (or even a great) teacher they will be a good manager. Even if they are a good academic trainer, that will not automatically lead to success in management. Management is a craft and has its own collection of skills, separate from competency in any job role. It must be trained, coached, and supported if a manager is to be successful.
The second is that the administration and the teachers must always be at odds with each other. In many organizations it’s taken for granted that there will be conflict and tension between teachers and the people leading them. This does not need to be the case, but it does require skill and organization on the part of the leadership team and the manager of the teachers. That skill set is something I aim to provide in Teacher-First Management.
The third misconception I hope to dispel is that teacher engagement is a luxury that drains resources and sacrifices profits. There tends to be an attitude in many organizations that focusing on teacher needs, training, engagement-focused management, and community building is something that will be a priority when there’s enough time or money to invest in them. On the contrary, I hope to show the world that these things are not peripheral but core to building and maintaining a successful organization. They’re not practices that are “nice-to-have”, they are the key to building the organization in the long term. While any organizational change does require initial investment, that pales in comparison to the costs of turnover and a disengaged teacher team.
The Literature Times: How do you define a “teacher-first” approach in an educational organization?
Joel M. Abel:
Teacher-first as an approach was initially a reaction to prevalence of student-focused philosophies. Student-focused approaches come from a well-intentioned and seemingly logical viewpoint: if the students are the purpose of an educational organization, then they should be the greatest priority. However, this has led to what I consider the downfall of many educational organizations great and small. The students are the outcome, they are not the means. You cannot build a thriving organization when you continuously put pressure on teachers and never take into consideration their needs and wants.
The other side of the coin is the idea of profitability. A profit-first approach in an organization invests only in what gets an immediate return. This can be mixed up with a student-focused approach, and can have equally disastrous results. As we already discussed; Teacher-First management is not just a good deal for the teachers, it’s the best chance that an organization has to create a profitable and successful company. Teacher engagement drives student results, driving customer retention and referral. Teacher retention provides stability in finances and in operations, and preserves not only academic, but administration skills and efficiency. At all points having a Teacher-First mindset is the best investment in long-term success.
The Literature Times: What strategies do you recommend for new managers to effectively support their teaching staff?
Joel M. Abel:
A good friend once told me “I start from the position of greatest empathy, and then I go from there.” That’s always stuck with me. The skills and strategies that I outline in Teacher-First Management are a successful roadmap to competent management practices and organizational development. However, they are useless in the hands of someone who does not have the respect and empathy to listen to their teachers and see their own role as one of service to them.
A mentor will help a new manager find their blind spots, give practical approaches to immediate problems, and provide emotional support. I’d also suggest that entering a community of like-minded managers, even in different companies or industries, would be an immediate priority for any new manager, the support that they can provide will be equal to the most experienced and skilled mentor.
The Literature Times: In your experience, what are the most significant challenges that managers of teachers face?
Joel M. Abel:
Squeezed from above by new directives and performance targets by senior leadership, from below by teachers who need and deserve constant support, and from all sides by other departments that want time and attention for their personal priorities, the challenges that face people who manage teachers are as numerous and varied as the organizations that employ them.
All of these challenges can be overcome, but not if the manager in question doesn’t have the support and skills to manage them. The biggest challenge that managers have is the lack of support and training to do their jobs. Becoming a manager isn’t an extension of the teaching role, it’s taking on a whole new role altogether. It should be treated as such. Too often though, teachers are elevated and left to fend for themselves.
The Literature Times: How does cultural competence play a role in managing diverse teaching teams?
Joel M. Abel:
More than most managers realize, I’d say. I’ve worked in international education for all my career, and even the relatively small differences between my American culture and my English colleagues can cause significant challenges. Intercultural competence is not just an important skillset, it’s a real joy to see the world through different lenses and points of view.
However, when people speak of intercultural competence, they often make the mistake of only considering national or ethnic cultures. Generational cultures can have a bigger impact on working relationships than national ones. Class cultures can heavily influence one’s point of view. Past experiences in working and corporate cultures will frame the working habits of teachers and administrators alike. The traditional view of intercultural competence is vital, but it’s one facet of the kaleidoscope of cultural viewpoints that must be considered.
The Literature Times: What role do you believe organizational culture plays in the success of educational management?
Joel M. Abel:
I believe that organizational culture is extremely important to the success of any company, but especially in industries that rely on developing and leveraging relationships for success. Culture reflects leader’s values and how they’re demonstrated in their daily interactions with their staff. It is an expression of intention by the whole organization of what is important and how things will be done. A positive and effective culture is resilient in the face of adversity and will help a team through difficult challenges. It will allow for free expression of ideas and creativity. It will foster a community of service where the important things are done well, and the minor details are seen as opportunities to shine. This effect on the organization is immediately apparent to anyone who interacts with it.
In Teacher-First Management, I outline a clear system for defining, creating, and maintaining a purposeful and effective culture in your organization. It is not easy to achieve, but the roadmap is simple enough for anyone to understand, and self-perpetuating if followed. Culture management can be one of the most daunting tasks a manager has, because it seems so nebulous and hard to define. My book makes it clear, structured, and achievable.
The Literature Times: Can you describe the impact of inadequate management on teachers and students?
Joel M. Abel:
Proper management is a virtuous cycle. If teachers are supported, appreciated, and invested in, they give back in their engagement, effort, and creativity. This creates happy students, happy customers, positive financials, and trust from senior leadership. This gives their managers more freedom, resources, and recognition to build up their teaching teams.
But, unfortunately, the inverse can also be the case. If teachers are not supported, trusted, or appreciated, they become mistrustful, resentful, and protective of their own interests. This means missed opportunities with students, a lack of attention to admin, and managers who spend their time fighting fires rather than developing skills or increasing results. Departures from the team are inevitable, and then so are the costs of replacing and retraining those staff. The departures will usually begin with the most talented staff, those that have the best options elsewhere, so brain-drain saps the organization of talent. The whole organization suffers in reputation, and senior leaders will eventually notice a drop in results, lack in achievement, and disorganization that resists all efforts to fix it from the top.
None of this is inevitable, and even the most challenging markets produce winners who know how to make the most of their staff. Teacher-First Management was born of the belief that management skill directed towards building amazing teaching teams is the key to success.
Let’s not pretend that there isn’t a financial and career incentive to move up into a management role, and that this won’t be cause the wrong person to take that job. That’s why I outline many of conditions and processes for hiring, developing, and diagnosing ineffectiveness in managers in my book. This makes it an important read for anyone developing leaders as well.
The Literature Times: What advice would you give to organizations looking to implement a “teacher-first” management model?
Joel M. Abel:
Out of blatant self-interest I’d like to say that the first thing you should do is distribute copies of my book to every stakeholder in the change-management plan! But, in truth it is probably only the second thing the organization should do.
The first, and most important thing is to get your teachers involved from the very beginning. Talk to them, hear them out openly. Create an environment of safe, honest, and complete feedback from the people who make your organization possible. This may not be easy. Events to this point may have damaged trust amongst the team. A negative or apathetic culture may be entrenched in your team. However, I’ve never seen a team that couldn’t be brought back through honest and concerted effort.
The second thing (and this is where you might want a copy of Teacher-First Management on-hand) is to make a plan. This is not an effort that you want to undertake half-cocked. Plans might not survive first contact with the enemy, but without one the team doesn’t either. Having a value-based, teacher-first, end-to-end vision, milestones for its transformation, and a clear roll-out of the change is vital for success.
The third thing is to get buy-in, if not from the whole organization, then at least from everyone that could cancel or sabotage the changes. Meaningful changes will come at some cost. It takes investment in time and resources to make the necessary organizational shift. Some people will not want to go on the journey with you. These costs could cause leadership to waver, or water down the plan. You have to have the support to see it though.
